THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races takes place on the tiny Irish island of Thisby. Here every autumn carnivorous water horses called Capaill Uisce climb out of the ocean looking for blood in whatever form they can find it. Sometimes a sheep gets slaughtered, sometimes humans are taken and sometimes the horses are captured to be ridden November first in the annual Scorpio Race.

The story, in alternating voice, follows the lives of teenagers Sean Kendrick and Kate “Puck” Connolly. He is in love with these horses and the sea from which they climb. She is part of the island and wants to keep what’s left of her family together. Each of them has lost someone to the Capaill Uisce, but that doesn’t stop them from taking part in the most dangerous sort of horse race.

I absolutely loved this book, though it took me a while to get into it. There is more blood than I would normally like in a read. I found myself saying every night as I closed the cover that I would probably quit reading it.

But I didn’t.

And then I couldn’t.

I became so engrossed in this story that Puck and Sean ran around my brain all through the day – I thought about how I wanted both of them to win the race, what could possibly happen next and why I needed these two characters to be together.

Maggie Stiefvater has an amazing voice. Her metaphors and analogies are something to be cherished. Get this book. Read it. Cheer on Puck. Root for Sean. Worry about Dove. Appreciate Corr. Hope for a happy ending.

I listened to the audiobook at work last year and loved it. I was actually glad I listened to it vs. reading it because the reader knew how to pronounce all those words and the accents were amazing. Steifvater’s writing is so amazingly beautiful, too. I wish I could write like she does.